Human-induced production landscapes called satoyama, literally the compound of sato (home village) and yama (woodland hills and mountains) in Japanese, are seen as ecological mosaics that have emerged as a result of long- term human–nature interactions. The landscapes are composed of woodlands, grasslands, farmlands, rice fields, and human settlements. The different land use elements are interrelated to one another to form a cohesive system. Through locally situated knowledge, when combined, the various forces and factors in traditional land use techniques form a cohesive ecosystem of ecological mosaics. This article explores how conservation approaches that see human–nature relations as interdependent and symbiotic can be instrumental for the conservation and promotion of biodiversity. Satoyama landscapes represent traditional land-use techniques based on local knowledge that is, in turn, informed by the long-term interplay between local people and ecological systems. They are not definite, but rather always changing. We thus characterize the history of human–nature interactions as an iterative learning process in which a loosely organized structure of human–nature interactions emerges as the practice of locally specific knowledge. 

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Ito, Takeshi

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Takeshi Ito & Mikiko Sugiura (2021) Satoyama Landscapes as Ecological Mosaics of Biodiversity: Local Knowledge, Environmental Education, and the Future of Japan’s Rural Areas, Environment: Science and Policy for Sustainable Development, 63:5, 14-25, DOI: 10.1080/00139157.2021.1953911

自然環境と人間社会の不均衡が、気候危機というグローバルな問題として顕著化している。本論は、上智大学のフィールド実践型環境ゼミナール「Human Ecology: Rivers」を事例として、21世紀に活躍する人材を育てる大学における環境教育の重要性を指摘する。自然環境の豊かさは、人間社会の経済活動を支えるが、両者の関係は繊細で複雑である。私たちはどれだけ自然環境を理解しているのであろうか。人々の生活を支える農業や産業は、貴重な生態系サービスの恩恵を享受することで発展してきたことからも、自然環境と人間社会のバランスのとれた関係が持続可能性と環境正義の観点から重要である。開発という名の下に、人間社会が利潤性・効率性を強調するあまり、自然の多様性は文明を阻害するものと見なされてきた。ここでは、自然は人間がコントロールする対象であって、両者の存在は相反する関係である。「Human Ecology: Rivers」では、東京での事前学習と原始の状態に近い自然環境が残る道東地域でのフィールワークを通じて、人間社会と自然環境は個々に完結して対峙するのではなく、二つは相互に依存したエコロジーという一つの大きなシステムの一部であることを体験的に理解する。それはすなわち両者の繊細で複雑な関係性そして自然の多様性をそのままの形で理解して共生するための手がかりを学ぶことを意味している。まさにこうした点をフィールドに身を置いて多様なバックグラウンドを持った学生たちが共に学ぶことは、サステナビリティを考えるのに必要なスキルを身に付けることにつながるのではないであろうか。

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Ito, Takeshi

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Full Reference

Ito, Takeshi and Takehiro Watanabe. 2020. “Learning Social-Ecological Interactions through Fieldwork.” (上智大学の取り組み：フィールドから学ぶ人間社会と自然環境の相互関係) In Y. Sakurai et al. eds. Meeting the World in Japan. Tokyo: Sophia University Press.『日本で出会う世界－国内で実現する短期集中型国際研修』東京：上智大学出版・ぎょうせい　https://shop.gyosei.jp/products/detail/10278　

Anadromous salmonids are increasingly threatened by overfishing, overdependence on hatcheries, and loss of spawning grounds. This paper examines the Kushiro Wetland, a Ramsar site and Japan＇s largest protected wetland, as a potential area for promoting natural reproduction of anadromous salmonids. We argue that initiatives to protect natural reproduction of anadromous salmonids and wetland conservation efforts as mutually beneficial and necessary. Salmon is a keystone species that serves as a foundation for both the natural food web and the global fishery industry, and therefore a crucial factor in shaping the future health of the wetland ecosystem and the security of local people＇ livelihoods. First, this paper explores the benefits of naturally reproducing salmon for both nature and society from the perspective of the wetland ecosystem, drawing from examples of wetland conservation specific to natural reproduction of salmon. Second, by employing the framework of social-ecological system analysis, this paper provides an overview of the local environmental history of the Kushiro River Basin by examining how social-ecological interactions from the Meiji period to date has shaped the local ecology, with a focus on wetland and salmon. Over the years, the development of logging, dairy farming, and salmon propagation in the basin disconnected the mutually beneficial relationship between wetland and salmon by establishing and moving salmon capture sites to further downstream along the Kushiro River and into the heart of the wetland. Based on this analysis, this paper argues that natural reproduction of salmon in the Kushiro Wetland has the potential to reconnect lost ecological links and benefit the river basin ecology and the local community.

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Ito, Takeshi

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Full Reference

Ito, T., & Watanabe, T. (2020). Protecting natural reproduction of salmon and restoring wetlands in Kushiro, Hokkaido: A prolegomenon. Wetland Research. 

https://doi.org/10.1111/apv.12264

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The current fashion design, production, and consumption system, known as ‘fast fashion’, is characterized by the manufacturing of low-quality garments in a short period of time carried out in developing countries. In parallel with the deficits in social responsibility and human rights, the prevailing ‘take-make-dispose’ system in the fashion industry is one of the main causes of environmental pollution that concerns the climate change, scarcity of natural resources and health problems for the living beings. Due to these facts, discussions on Circular Design strategies – for waste reduction, components recycling, and materials reuse – became increasingly relevant throughout the globe. This paper’s aspiration is to outline a perspective towards a Circular Fashion. The concept of the Design for Sustainability requires a holistic view throughout de-signing strategies as well as the establishment of cyclical systems for the production site. Notwithstanding, the efficient integration of social and cultural dimensions are vital for Sustainable Fashion’s triumph.

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Melo, Beatrice

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Melo, B., & Broega, A. C. A perspective towards a circular fashion design system. In Reverse Design – Broega et al. (Eds) CRC Press, 20180925, © 2019 Taylor & Francis Group, London, ISBN 978-1-138-37011-1

 

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